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Literature Review of the Risks and Adverse Effects from Discharges of Stormwater, Wastewater, Industrial and Trade Waste, and Other Hazardous Substances in Otago

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Literature Review of the Risks and Adverse Effects from Discharges of Stormwater, Wastewater, Industrial and Trade Waste, and Other Hazardous Substances in Otago Literature review of the risks and adverse effects from discharges of stormwater, wastewater, industrial and trade waste, and other hazardous substances in Otago 2 Action Name Date Draft prepared by Mike Stewart, Jim Cooke, Ngaire Phillips, 20th October 2016 and Mike Freeman (Freeman Environmental) Reviewed by Adam Uytendaal, Sylvie Leduc, Rachel 22nd November 2016 Ozane, Frederika Mourot (ORC) Final prepared Mike Stewart 10th February 2017 Report ORC1601–FINAL-v2 Prepared for Otago Regional Council February 2017 © Streamlined Environmental Limited, 2017 Stewart, M., Cooke, J., Phillips, N., Freeman, M. (2017) Literature review of the risks and adverse effects from discharges of stormwater, wastewater, industrial and trade waste, and other hazardous substances in Otago. Report ORC1601-FINAL-v2, Streamlined Environmental, Hamilton, 153 pp. Streamlined Environmental Ltd Hamilton, New Zealand www.streamlined.co.nz [email protected] 3 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Purpose of this document ........................................................................................................... 7 2. Setting the scene .................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 The Otago Region ........................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Receiving environments of the Otago Region ............................................................................ 8 2.3 Values of receiving environments ............................................................................................. 10 2.4 Sensitivities of receiving environments .................................................................................... 13 2.5 Activities, discharges and contaminants that affect receiving environments .......................... 13 2.6 Synergistic effects ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.7 Indicators of adverse effects ..................................................................................................... 26 2.8 Making connections .................................................................................................................. 27 3. Stormwater ........................................................................................................................................ 29 3.1 Key points for Stormwater ........................................................................................................ 29 3.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 29 3.3 Types of stormwater discharges considered ............................................................................ 30 3.4 Typical contaminants ................................................................................................................ 31 3.5 Adverse effects and indicators .................................................................................................. 36 3.6 Knowledge gaps and risks ......................................................................................................... 48 3.7 Management and mitigation practices ..................................................................................... 49 3.8 Specific matters ........................................................................................................................ 50 4. Human wastewater ............................................................................................................................ 53 4.1 Key points for human wastewater ............................................................................................ 53 4.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 53 4 4.3 Types considered and discharges in Otago ............................................................................... 56 4.4 Typical contaminants ................................................................................................................ 60 4.5 Adverse effects and indicators .................................................................................................. 61 4.6 Management and mitigation practices ..................................................................................... 72 4.7 Specific matters ........................................................................................................................ 74 5. Industrial and Trade Waste ................................................................................................................ 78 5.1 Key points for industrial and trade waste ................................................................................. 78 5.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 78 5.3 Types considered and discharges in Otago ............................................................................... 79 5.4 Typical contaminants ................................................................................................................ 79 5.5 Adverse effects and indicators .................................................................................................. 81 5.6 Knowledge gaps and risks ......................................................................................................... 82 5.7 Management and mitigation practices ..................................................................................... 83 5.8 Specific matters ........................................................................................................................ 83 6. Other Hazardous Substances ............................................................................................................. 89 6.1 Key points for other hazardous substances .............................................................................. 89 6.2 Types considered and discharges in Otago ............................................................................... 89 6.3 Mining ....................................................................................................................................... 89 6.4 Landfills ..................................................................................................................................... 96 6.5 Contaminated sites ................................................................................................................... 99 6.6 Agriculture and horticulture ................................................................................................... 101 6.7 Aquaculture ............................................................................................................................ 109 6.8 Summary of adverse effects from other hazardous substances ............................................. 110 6.9 Management and mitigation .................................................................................................. 111 5 6.10 Specific challenges .................................................................................................................. 112 7. References ........................................................................................................................................ 117 Glossary .................................................................................................................................................... 131 Appendix A: Scope of services .................................................................................................................. 138 Appendix B: Indicators and methods ....................................................................................................... 140 Appendix C: Review of Otago Stormwater Consent Monitoring Reports ................................................ 148 Appendix D: WWTP data .......................................................................................................................... 152 6 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose of this document Plan Change 6A (Water Quality) to the Regional Plan: Water for Otago, which was made operative in May 2014, focused on managing contaminant losses from rural properties. Amongst other provisions, it set permitted activity discharge thresholds on nitrate and nitrite-nitrogen (NNN), ammoniacal-nitrogen (NH4-N), dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), Escherichia coli, and turbidity.1 ORC now wishes to review how the discharges which have not been addressed in Plan Change 6A are managed. Those include discharges from stormwater, wastewater (human), industrial and trade waste, and other potentially hazardous activities (such as agricultural practices, landfill and contaminated sites). As a first step to this review, the ORC has commissioned a review of the latest scientific knowledge on the risks and adverse effects from the relevant discharges on the values receiving environments support, taking into account the sensitivity of those receiving environments across Otago. This will inform a) the assessment of ORC’s discharge management policies, b) the identification of
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